The growth in shellfish landings and 

 values to a limited degree represents al- 

 ternative employment for grovindfish vessels. 

 The sea scallop fishery, concentrated in 

 New Bedford, uses 70 to 80 boats whose 

 construction and deck arrajsgement are sim- 

 ilar to that of medium-sized groundfish 

 trawlers. Many of the boats are converted 

 ftom trawling to scalloping and back again 

 in order to adapt the vessel to changing 

 marketing conditions in groundfish, floun- 

 ders, and scallops, ii' IMs particular 

 possibility of alternative eD$)loyment is 

 of some moment iu New Bedford, but of little 

 importance as a solution to the region's 

 groundfish problem* 



The \diitiag fishery is another iiidxistry 

 showing definite growth possibilities. PY*cbi 

 19li7 to 1957 >^iting landings doubled and 

 value increased over 50 percent. 



In s\immary it may be said that there 

 have been distinct growth segments in the 

 New Ehgland fisheries and, that of these, 

 scallops and whiting present some alter- 

 native employment possibilities for ground- 

 fish vessels and men* Save for the scallop 

 fishery in New Bedford, and to some extent 

 the whiting fishery in Gloucester, these 

 have not substantially alleviated the 

 economic consequences of 'the decline of 

 the groundfi shery , The growth of industri- 

 al fishing has been remarkable, but it has 

 been in ports not previously groundfish 

 landing sites. In I96O, however, this 

 fishery began to experience some economic 

 difficulties. 



The Modem Industry 



Kie Director of the Bureau of Comner- 

 clal Fisheries, Departraant of the Interior, 

 estimated in 1958 that if shore workers 

 and those enployed in allied industries 

 dependent on the fisheries are included, 

 nearly 65,000 persons have their liveli- 

 hood based on the industry. The value of 



the groundfish fleet alone is estimated at 

 Up million with another $30 million in- 

 vested in processing plants. 13/ Iho landed 

 value of the 1956 New England catch was 

 nearly |60 mill ion j fishery products manu- 

 factured in the area were valued at $108 

 million, and the retail value of the New 

 England catch was about $l81i million. 



While the industry occupies a rela- 

 tively minor position in the New England 

 economy, it is of major importance in 

 certain ports such as Gloucester, New Bed- 

 ford, and Rockland. It is estimated that 

 70 percent of Gloucester's population is 

 dependent on the fishery; in New Bedford 

 it is the second largest industry, with 

 en^jloyment provided for 10 percent of the 

 labor force; in Rockland, it is the lead- 

 ing industry. The State of Maine found 

 for the years 1955-57 that the fisheries 

 segment of Maine maniifacturing represented 

 2,9 percent of the total manufactured 

 product value in the State, 1,9 percent of 

 the total manufacturing gross wages paid 

 and 2,9 percent of the total manufacturing 

 average employment. Ihf In 1957, fishery 

 products and byproducts accounted for 55 

 percent of the value of all primary pro- 

 duction, li.3 percent of gross wages, and 

 5.7 percent of employment. The 9,5ii7 

 regular fishermen and processing workers 

 represented 3.5 percent of the 1957 Maine 

 labor force. 



New England fishing vessels in 1957 

 landed 1,030,883,000 pounds valued at 

 $60,810,000, or 22 percent of the poiuidage 

 and 17 percent of the values of total 

 United States fishery landings. Groundfish 

 constituted about 30 percent of both the 

 poundage and value of the New England 

 total catch of all species. 



New England accounts for about 95 

 percent of the United States landings of 

 groundfish of ^Aiich over 80 percent are 

 converted to fresh and frozen fillets. 



12/ Sea Scallops Boats and Gear , by J. A. Posgay, Fishery Leaflet hh2f United States 

 Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, p. 3. 



13/ Fisheries Legislation . Hearings, Committee on ]&iterstate and Foreign Commerce. 

 Unl^d States Senate, HSth Congress, 2d Session, July 15-17, 1958. Testimony of Dona3.d 

 L, McKeman, Director, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, p. 217. 



iV Special Study: Value of the Fisheries in Maine Manufacturing Industries . 

 Sta^ of Maine, Department of Labor and Industry, Division of Research and Statistics. 

 July 3, 1958. 



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